Speakybara vs NaturalReader
Checked October 2, 2026
Speakybara is a free app for Windows and Mac that turns any part of your screen into text you can copy or listen to: press a hotkey, drag a frame, done.
NaturalReader, from NaturalSoft, is a web-first text-to-speech reader with Windows and Mac apps, a Chrome extension and mobile apps, aimed at students, education and accessibility, reading PDF, DOCX, EPUB and web pages with 200+ voices in 40+ languages.
NaturalReader is built around files you give it. Speakybara is built around the pixels already on your screen. That single difference explains almost every row below.
- Platforms
- Web · Windows · macOS · Chrome · iOS · Android
Pick NaturalReader if
- You feed it whole files: PDF, DOCX, EPUB.
- You want MP3 export to listen away from the computer.
- You want a pronunciation editor for names and jargon.
- You want 200+ voices in 40+ languages.
- You need an education or site licence.
Pick Speakybara if
- The text is on your screen and not in a file you can upload.
- You do not want good voices rationed by the minute.
- You want your own key, or one flat fee, instead of a tier.
- The image has to stay on your computer.
- Your documents mix Dutch and English.
The eight rows that decide it
The same values as the full matrix, narrowed to this pair.
| What it does | Speakybara | NaturalReader |
|---|---|---|
| Reads any on-screen text via a screenshot | yesThe text recognition of Windows or macOS, on your computer | partlyUpload an image or scan; paid tiers only |
| Works in every app, not only a browser or PDF | yes | partlyA floating bar reads text you can select, not pixels |
| Global hotkey | yesCtrl+Alt+S (Control+Option+S on a Mac), and every hotkey is configurable | not statedNo global shortcut documented |
| Free tier | yesFree forever, every feature | yesLite voices 20,000 characters a day, Plus voices 4,000 a day |
| The image is not uploaded by default | yesRecognised on your computer, then discarded; only an opt-in setting sends a screen picture to an online AI | noUploaded, converted, then deleted |
| Dutch and English detected automatically | yesPer selection and per sentence; on Windows also per word | partlyDutch voices exist; automatic detection is not stated |
| Document library or ebook import | no | yes |
| Price per year | Free · Complete €59 a year incl. VAT, or €6.99 a month | USD 119 Plus, USD 159 Pro, USD 79 Lite a year |
Price
NaturalReader publishes Lite at USD 79, Plus at USD 119 and Pro at USD 159 a year, or USD 20.90 and USD 25.90 a month, as of October 2, 2026. Its free tier gives unlimited Free voices, 20,000 characters a day of Lite voices and 4,000 characters a day of Plus voices. Speakybara is free without a daily limit, and Complete is €59 a year incl. VAT. NaturalReader does not publish a verifiable euro price.
Privacy
NaturalReader's text recognition is upload-based and paid-only: the image or scan goes to NaturalReader's servers, is converted and is then deleted. Text you paste is converted on its servers too. Speakybara recognises the frame on your own computer with the engine that ships with Windows or macOS and discards the image; for reading aloud, only the sentence being spoken goes to Microsoft or Google, and only if you picked those voices.
Switching
The desktop floating bar reads text you can select with the mouse. The moment the text is a picture, NaturalReader needs its upload-based recognition — and that is exactly the line where Speakybara starts.
Questions people ask
Yes, through OCR on the paid tiers. The image or scanned PDF is uploaded to NaturalReader's servers, converted and then deleted. Speakybara recognises the image on your own computer, and by default it stays there.
There is a free tier with unlimited Free voices, 20,000 characters a day of Lite voices and 4,000 characters a day of Plus voices. Text recognition is not part of it.
No global shortcut for capturing a region is documented by NaturalReader as of October 2, 2026. Speakybara uses Ctrl+Alt+S (Control+Option+S on a Mac) and every hotkey can be changed.
NaturalReader. It keeps your place in a file, exports MP3 and reads whole documents. Speakybara reads the part of the screen you point at and keeps no library.
Try it before you decide
Speakybara is free, needs no account and takes a minute to install. If it is not for you, the other product is right there.
Sources
SourcesEvery claim on this page was checked against the vendor's own pages on October 2, 2026.
Competitor prices are the list prices the vendor publishes, in US dollars. No competitor publishes a verifiable euro price, so nothing is converted. Speakybara prices are in euros, incl. 21% VAT.
naturalreaders.com/online/pricing (opens in a new tab)naturalreaders.com (opens in a new tab)NaturalReader plan limits (opens in a new tab)
Last updated October 2, 2026